How did this Happen?
by Danger All Around
Summary: Kyoko isn't exactly a feminist. Don't misunderstand, she's always believed women deserve equal rights, but she's never advocated for this belief. But when Kyoko finally builds up the "audacity" to not take verbal abuse from every guy that crosses her path, she becomes Tokyo's new icon of feminism. "Why did this happen? More impotantly, how did this happen?"
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: It Knows

"What's the matter, Kyoko-Chan?" Chiori looked over at Kyoko, who looked uncharacteristically out of energy.

"I'm fine!" Kyoko waved her hands and smiled a little too wide. "I'm just a little tired, that's all," she assured, but Chiori was not convinced.

"What's _actually_ wrong?" Chiori pressed. "You already know you're going to see Kanae-chan today, normally you'd be bouncing with joy by now"

Kyoko was surrounded by a glistening aura of pure happiness, but only for a moment before she fell back into a casual sadness. This time around, though, the undertones of fear were more prominent, in Chiori's eyes. "It's been pretty calm lately, which is a delightful change of pace, but..." Kyoko looked down at her feet, feeling guilty for burdening Chiori with her backless worries.

"But it feels like it's too good to be true?" She tilted her head to the side and gave Kyoko a sad, sympathetic smile.

Kyoko looked up at her coworker, surprised at the feeling of someone knowing exactly what she was thinking. People could usually tell what Kyoko was thinking based off of her facial expressions, but few dared to admit it. "It feels like a calm before the storm!" she replied, with a renewed vigor. After a few moments of excitement her senses returned to her and she recalled the conversation that lead to that point. She looked back at the floor, this time with her shoulders hunched forward and her back curved.

Chiori gave her a friendly pat on the back, one of those comforting touches that aren't much contact but have way more meaning to them. "You shouldn't worry so much, Kyoko-Chan" Chiori's tone was soft and understanding. "Everything's gonna be fine,"

Kyoko smiled and straightened out her spine. "Thanks for the peptalk, Chi!" Chiori walked away, deciding to address the trouble of the horrendous nickname another day. "Everythings gonna be okay" Kyoko quietly repeated to herself.

Somehow, she doubted that.

-End-

 **A/N: Pay special attention to the pattern in the chapter titles, it'll be important as heck. Also, I'll try to have much longer chapters from here on out, I just wanted something short to get the ball rolling.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: It Hears

"This is it!" Kyoko hummed to herself as she cleaned an already nearly spotless room. "Father's going to be coming into town! And to think that I thought the calm was a lead up to _bad_ news. How foolish of me!" She picked up her picture of her late uncle and wiped all the fingerprints off the glass of the picture frame, before replacing it on her dresser, among dozens of other pictures and souvenirs she'd collected over the years. She lightly brushed her fingers over the tops of all the wood frames.

There was a knock at the door and Kyoko's heart came to a complete standstill, leaving a cold feeling of dread in her chest cavity. She clambered over her odd objects strewn about her dresser and grabbed a few pictures of her and Shou as children, to throw them into her desk drawer.

"Are you hiding photos?" Kanae complained through the door. "Whose picture do you not want me to see?"

"Moko-San!" Kyoko exclaimed, throwing the pictures onto her well made bed. She swung the door open

to face her best friend.

Kanae braced for the impact of a violent tackle-hug and was surprised when several seconds of contact free silence went by, even though they hadn't seen each other in almost three weeks. Something was definitely wrong. She looked back up at her friend to see she was pouting, with large, overexaggerated tears threatening to escape the confines of her lower eyelids.

"Doesn't Moko-San know that I have nothing to hide from her" Kyoko's voice was softer than usual and took on a slightly higher tone, but it had an underlying heaviness that could drown any normal human being in synesthesia. "I'd never keep a secret from my Moko-San" ' _except for the fact that I'm in love with Japan's number one bachelor that will never love me back, but that's beside the point,'_

"Mo! Stop making that face, I was just poking fun!" Kanae's cheeks flushed, ever so slightly. "If you didn't wanna hide the pictures from me, who did you think was at the door?"

Now it was Kyoko's turn to turn pink, but her blush was more prominent, spreading all the the way from her hairline to the tips of her fingers. When she saw Kanae's suspicious expression she immediately denied any implications her reaction could've lead to. "That's not what I meant!" her light pink darkened to a deep red, bordering red-violet. "H-he's coming over to help with a scene, that's all. He's just helping a kouhai as any responsible senpai would do!"

Kanae picked up one of the stray photographs from the hot pink covers that adorned Kyoko's mattress. Kanae smiled as she realised that they matched her Love-Me uniform and, at the moment, her face. "If he's just a 'responsible senpai' then why do you need to hide photos of your ex-lover when he comes over"

Kanae heard a subtle thunderclap that she would have bet her life savings would have been louder had she had an ear pressed to Kyoko's chest.

"Ex-lover?" She growled ominously."I don't appreciate you implying that I would ever stoop so low as to do such _unsavory_ things with a heartless bastard like that!" As quickly as the menacing aura came, it left, leaving a hurt feeling of disgust in its wake. "I think you should go," Kyoko said, almost in a whisper.

"What?" Kanae didn't actually believe that she misheard, she just hoped.

"Leave!" She didn't shout, but it felt like it. She had that same sore, dry feeling left in her throat like she had screamed at the top of her lungs the way she wanted to.

Kanae didn't know what to do. She was used to Kyoko's odd mood swings, they were just a part of who she was. But Kyoko had never been so upset with her before, she'd never been upset with her at all. Not angry, certainly not, whatever that was. It looked, to Kanae, like a strange mixture of betrayal, anger, sadness, and... guilt? ' _Why are you guilty?'_ The question burned the tip of her tongue, trying to make an escape, to be out in the open and heard. She wouldn't let that happen. She did as she was told and left the way she came. "Good luck" Kanae said on her way out, wondering if Kyoko would be equipt to handle that _uncomfortable_ scene she had to film the next day for "Box R"

"Thanks," Kyoko replied, too quietly for Kanae too hear her. She stood in the doorway for a few seconds before closing the door with finality. She pressed her back to the wall, knowing her light, flowy shirt wouldn't guard her against the sensation of a thousand tiny needles of ice pricking her skin. She went to finish putting her photos in the drawer, but this time her movements were slow and painful. Just as she was closing up the drawer of the vanity that was near the foot of her bed, there was another knock. She took a few deep breaths with her hand on the doorknob, mentally preparing herself, before she opened the door.

"Tsuruga-san, please come in" She greeted, the polite, matronly smile she'd spent years perfecting plastered all over her face. She gestured to the small bench that was pressed to the back of her headboard.

Ren followed the movement and took a seat. "So, what is it you needed help with?" He managed to keep his cool but his emotions were raging inside of him. He was sort of glad that the show had become so popular with it's second season, or he would've never had the chance to guest star alongside Kyoko. ' _But did it have to be a flirt scene?'_ he wondered. Somewhere deep inside of him Kuon was telling him that, yes, it absolutely had to be a flirt scene.

"Well, I'm not really worried about the whole 'flirting' thing, actually" Kyoko waved a hand dismissively, barely even blushing. "But I keep stumbling over a couple of my lines, and I've finally been able to say them without stuttering. I'm just worried that I'll mess up again when I have to do it in time with other people"

' _Wait, she knows how to flirt?'_ Kuon asked. ' _Where did she learn to do that?'_ Ren bit back his anger and smiled wide."I'd be glad to help"

Kyoko froze. ' _he's mad at me! I knew he'd be mad; I shouldn't have asked his help over something so silly!'_ Kyoko thought back to their conversation earlier that week.

" **Don't worry about it, Tsuruga-san" She begged. "It's not even** _ **that**_ **big of a deal. I'll totally have it down by filming, no help needed. Besides, it's embarrassing to ask a favor over something so insignificant"**

" **Mogami -san" Ren said, almost threateningly. He took on a more professional tone as he continued, "It's rather unprofessional of you to refuse help and, potentially, hold up production, just for the sake of your pride"**

Kyoko remembered the conversation well, as she was emotionally wounded by the event. ' _Hr doesn't have any right to be ad at me,'_ she assured herself. ' _he insisted, on helping and even reprimanded me for not wanting it, it's his fault!'_ She looked back at Ren with a newfound confidence, only to find him staring at her expectantly, with a script open in his lap. ' _Or maybe he isn't always angry when he smiles'_ Kyoko felt stupid for believing she could have a lasting impression on Japan's number one bachelor. She settled down next to him, and tried not to think about how close they were, how easy it would be to steal a kiss if she just leaned a little closer. She shook the thoughts away and turned all of her attention to her work.

* * *

Before they knew it, it was already ten o'clock at night, so Ren bid her a goodnight and left.

Kyoko flopped down on her bed, hoping that, since she was so exhausted, she wouldn't need to take her sleeping pills. She had no such luck. As the medication put her to sleep she stared at her blank ceiling. She loved having a blank ceiling. Back at the apartment she shared with Sho the ceiling was textured. Textured ceilings were _not_ relaxing, they were a task. When you stare at a textured ceiling you just can't help but pick out all the patterns, the faces, the monsters, but with a blank ceiling she didn't need to close her eyes to clear her mind, she could just let the soft lavender calm her nerves. Kyoko couldn't pinpoint exactly when, but at some point or another the medicine kicked in and she slowly drifted into a deep sleep.

* * *

Kyoko was slinking through the halls, a strange mix of apprehension and guilt mixing in her stomach. ' _I wish I didn't yell at Moko-san, I really wanna talk to her. I wonder if she'd get angry at me if I called, or she'd just ignore my call. I could try, but she's probably too busy with work. Maybe-'_ her train of thought was thrown from its rails as she heard two familiar voices arguing. She groaned internally.

"I'm going to win!" Shou was cocky as ever, talking loud enough that he was almost shouting but not loud enough to be called out on it.

"You seem a little too sure of yourself" Ren, on the other hand, was calm, cool, and collected, not ready to let some brat get the best of him.

"There's a prize to be won, and it will be mine!" Shou rested his fists arrogantly on his hips.

Ren's gentlemanly facade faltered, if only for a moment, but he still didn't shout as he replied "No. It. Won't"

The mistake may have only lasted a moment, but that moment was enough for Kyoko. Somehow the oblivious Kyoko Mogami managed to notice the implications of their words. She was dumbstruck as she realised that the "It" they had been referring to was supposed to be her.

-End-

 **A/N: A pig fell on my head while I was writing this. Only the left half, though.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: It Hurts

Kyoko went completely red. She couldn't believe it. Not only were they treating her like an object, they actually referred to her as an _it._ She was beyond mortified. She wanted to freak out; she wanted to go out there and shout at him until her voice gave out, then promptly beat the shit out of him. Or, at least, she wanted to want to. In reality she was just sad. She didn't want to lash out the way she did at Sho. She just kind of wanted to curl up and cry. She had trusted him, she'd trusted Sho too, but this time it was different. When she learned of Sho's betrayal she saw red, now everything was just a sort of dull grey ache. Because with Sho it was so many emotions coming together at one single point and Ren had only one thing to offer her: betrayal.

She took a deep breath, and everything seemed different. It was as though her hopeless gasp for cool, forgiving air had shaken the world around her as much as it had rattled her ribs in its desperate depths. The world shifted beneath her feet, and she was alone. Kanae was angry and would surely refuse to speak to her, and she could never face Ren again. She wanted so desperately to be strong, but she felt broken. She took a few more gasps of air, hoping for the world to shift back, but she fell short on her luck. Tears welled up in her eyes and plagued her with an unforgiving sting. She let a few stray tears roll down her cheek, knowing she had no power to hold them back, but soon regained her composure and straightened her back.

She was a lot of things, she was hurt, betrayed, confused, but she wasn't angry. She refused to be angry. _Anger is the fool's emotion,_ She told herself _for those too dimwitted to feel anything productive._ She took another deep breath and held it, swallowing her pride. She had work to do with him and she wouldn't just let him make a fool of her.

She wouldn't let him take over her life and destroy her like Sho had. She willed herself to replay all the times he had treated her poorly, to remind her that he was not worth crying over, to show that this behaviour was completely in character and that she shouldn't be surprised.

She wouldn't let him control her. She was wounded, but not dead. She wasn't broken. She was strong and independent and she didn't need to rely on him for support. She was infallible, indestructible, untouchable. It seemed like it could be true, and she wanted to believe it, but her heartache weighed down on her like a merciless illness. She _was_ strong, she really was. But just the same, she was was hurt.

* * *

 **A/N: I know that this one was short too, but I don't write during the school year much so this is just my "I'm not dead, don't forget about me!" Chapter. Also I couldn't find a good transition to make this chapter and the next one into one long chapter.**


End file.
